Star Wars Rebels

Tonight's season finale of Star Wars Rebels doesn't answer many of the hanging questions, but we do get a big peek behind the curtain in "Fire Across the Galaxy." We see a potential death, an unmasking, and wrap up Kanan's imprisonment with what is probably the best space battle we've seen on the TV editions of the franchise so far. In short, good times all around - and the amount of giddy fan stuff at the end is going to make you scream out for joy. (As long as Hasbro follows the cues of the episode, of course.)

Read on for more! I just finished watching this moments ago, so it's not too in-depth. And spoilers follow.

Tonight's episode of Star Wars Rebels continues the second real multi-episode arc of the season. "Rebel Resolve" builds a little tension without spending too much time on the specifics of Kanan's imprisonment and also makes us think that Ezra likes him more than Hera does..

Surprisingly, nobody has been rescued and there's an honest-to-goodness cliffhanger to make things interesting next time. Read on for more!

A special guest is here! Tonight's episode of Star Wars Rebels is "Call to Action" gives us real stakes, real consequences, another guest star, and the feeling that something is going to happen beyond returning to the status quo for once. In other words, it's a good one!

The core crew is here as are many recurring members of the Empire, all sharing the screen at the same time. It's feeling more and more like Star Wars. Read on for more!

Return of Gall Trayvis! Tonight's episode of Star Wars Rebels is "Vision of Hope," which teases us with glimpses into the future (and past) of our crew while giving us more opportunities to wonder how the Empire wants to track down the crew of the Ghost, yet seem to keep ignoring their parking in a big empty field on Lothal.

It's great to see them pick up on a plot thread from before, and who isn't ever delighted for Brent Spiner to show up? I mean, he was Devlin Bowman in The Master of Disguise. Read on for more!

Good news, everyone! New stuff is starting to hit - I personally saw a Target in Phoenix, AZ have a couple of Wullfwarro/Wookiee Warrior and Sabine Wren/Stormtrooper Star Wars Mission Series 2-packs at $9.99 a pop this evening before dinner. (I didn't see any of the other new ones.) If you're in the market for these, either order online at your favorite store or gas up the car!

This is great! Tonight's episode of Star Wars Rebels is "Idiot's Array," which lets you know right from the start that this is an episode for the hardcore loyalists from the 1980s. Originally appearing in the novels and some other Expanded Universe materials, the episode title lets you know that a familiar face will make an appearance, voiced by one of two special guest voice actors. And it was really fun, too!

If you liked the more episodic one-shot stories of old and love easter eggs aimed specifically at fans like you, this is a real gem of an installment. I daresay it's my favorite of the season and those who hate spoilers, well, too bad. Read on for more!

The back half of Star Wars Rebels begins here with "Path of the Jedi," which treads very familiar ground. Like much of the series, various themes are brought back in a new form along with recreations of music and scenes you've seen in the movies and elsewhere. This week, we get the much-promoted return of Frank Oz as Yoda in a voiceover role during a Jedi temple sequence which does raise a number of in-Universe questions, like "So if there's only 10,000 Jedi, how come there are a bunch of very expensive, very ornate temples all over the galaxy?"

Now that we're back from break, let's see what's new in the Force. Read on for more!

This is a good one. Star Wars Rebels finds its voice with "Empire Day." There are cameos, there's a lot of action, and best of all it's a fun ride. You get to see some fun new things, and the episode not only shows you someone else with Lobot's cybernetic implant, but we actually get a decent hint as to what the future for this show may hold!

This is the episode you'll show your friends who have their arms crossed and refuse to give it a chance - it's just that good. Standard spoilers apply, plus a warning/guarantee of another Kenner cameo. Read on for more!

Now that the figures are hitting shelves, Star Wars Rebels ups its game with the exciting "Out of Darkness." Being trapped on an alien world with dangerous local life forms is nothing new (see: "Rookies") but this episode shifts the focus from a group of trained military men to Hera and Sabine. Star Wars has historically given women little to do, especially in groups - seeing two of our heroes take on some sort of cat roach menace during a supply run where they really have a reason to be afraid of the dark made for a good showing.

The pace of Star Wars Rebels continues to ramp up with "Breaking Ranks," an entertaining but still unfortunately small-scale tale of the Vader Youth. We get a couple of stock Imperial officers (plus a couple of returning faces), a group of kids, and a relatively familiar plot that (I hope) sets up an arc for the future.

You get a few seconds of the Inquisitor, a few new faces, and the first indication of a solid missed opportunity in the action figure line. Read on for more!

Now this is a bit better. In "Rise of the Old Masters," Star Wars Rebels gives us no rising and only one master. It also ties in perfectly with the bonus scene featuring Darth Vader, and aligns nicely with this week's Halloween holiday. You get some cool cameos, but still a very sparse episode - it is, however, more fun to watch and a little ghoulish to dwell upon.

Spoilers await you after the break, but let me tell you this: you get to se a new villain in action, a possible new recurring character voiced by a Star Trek alumnus, and the Phantom in action. Read on for more!

A very McQuarrieishDarth Vader's disembodied helmet floats above the Inquisitor in a Star Wars Rebels scene airing on ABC earlier tonight. In it, exposition takes place. Did you miss it? We embedded a crude copy of the 1-minute sequence from the YouTubes after the break.

As Fake Shemp was unavailable, James Earl Jones will voice Darth Vader on en encore of Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion airing on ABC Sunday before the Disney Princess Live Action Mom Placation Hour. (You can read our review of the original DisneyXD airing here.)

Star Wars Rebels goes back to square one, and gives us a shopping trip in Fighter Flight. In case you forgot you were watching a kid's show that isn't exactly being given a ton of thought, well, here we are. The good guys go grocery shopping and come home with a new toy. And you'll see some old toys off in the distance.

Bringing things back to the Star Trek spin-offs, Rebels is somewhat consistent. The first seasons of those shows had some pretty bumpy times as we watched Tom Paris and Harry Kim hang out. Zeb and Ezra are this show's bickering buddies, and their rivalry continues with a trip to go do the shopping.

Star Wars Rebels returns to a normal, shorter format with Droids in Distress. Is fan service enough?

If you know your sci-fi history, it's not uncommon to trot out guest stars early on a spin-off. Star Trek: The Next Generation's first regular episode was basically a remake of the original series' second episode - crazy drunk sickness crew, swapping the super-cool Sulu fencing for the super-creepy Data nailing Tasha Yar. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had guest stars Lursa and B'Etor on its first regular installment, and The Clone Wars' first real installment? Yoda reenacts (preenacts?) Luke's Jedi training from The Empire Strikes Back. What Rebels does is bring back R2-D2 and C-3PO! The snappier exposition dump has more interesting battles than the pilot movie, and manages to do some more worldbuilding while having a bit more fun. Read on for more - and download the episode for free on iTunes until Apple changes their mind!